I want to read books that can give me an overview of significant historical and political events that can help with understanding current issues. I seem to have slept through every history class I’ve taken and feel very behind as an adult in my knowledge of other countries, wars, political frameworks, etc. I would definitely like to understand more about middle Eastern affairs but am open to suggestions for anything. Ideally, the books are not too dense-I need straightforward and accessible. Maybe even just a reference book that talks about a lot of different things in short chapters. Thanks!
by CattleDifficult1459
2 Comments
*River Through Time: The Course of Western Civilization* by C. Warren Hollister, James Hardy and Roger Lawrence Williams. (This book is dated)
*The Penguin History of the World: Sixth Edition* by J. M. Roberts and Odd Arne Westad.
*Medieval Europe: A Short History* by C Warren Hollister.
*Medieval Technology and Social Change* by Lynn White, Jr.
*The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559* (The Norton History of Modern Europe) by Eugene F. Rice Jr. and Anthony Grafton.
*The Renaissance* by Wallace K. Ferguson.
*The Age of Religious Wars, 1559-1715* (The Norton History of Modern Europe) by Richard S. Dunn.
*Kings and Philosophers, 1689-1789* (The Norton History of Modern Europe) by Leonard Krieger.
*The Coming of the French Revolution* by Georges Lefebvre.
*The Age of Revolution and Reaction: 1789-1850* (The Norton History of Modern Europe) by Charles Breunig.
*The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848* by E. J. Hobsbawm.
*Iron and the Industrial Revolution* (Cambridge Introduction to World History) by Christine Vialls.
*1848: The Revolution of the Intellectuals* by Lewis Bernstein (L. B.) Namier.
*The Age of Nationalism and Reform, 1850-1890* (The Norton History of Modern Europe) by Norman Rich.
*The End of the European Era: 1890 to the Present* (The Norton History of Modern Europe) by Felix Gilbert and David Clay Large.
*Societies and Cultures in World History: Single Volumes Edition Chapter 1-35* (the history of Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, as well as early and modern Asia) by Mark A. Kishlansky, Patrick J. Geary, Patricia O’Brien, and R. Bin Won.
*American History: Connecting with the Past* 15th Edition by Alan Brinkley.
This suggestion is not a joke: The Cartoon History series by Larry Gonick. Accessible, smart, funny, and broad.
Reading a couple of those will take you from zero to maybe the top 10% of people walking around today on historical and cultural knowledge.